Cylindrical pipe is frequently used for the manufacture of a large variety of products. Cylindrical pipe is useful for manufacturing structural devices because of its ready availability, its economy, and its high-structural strength. When using a length of pipe to make an object wherein lengths are to be welded or otherwise joined together, a common experience is to mark the pipe where it is to be cut utilizing a heavy pencil, chalk or marking stone. By use of a cutting torch, the pipe can then be cut where it is marked. For instance, if a rectangular shape is to be formed out of a length of pipe, then eight angular cuts must be formed on four lengths of pipe so that they can be welded together.
A problem exists in cutting a length of pipe in that the relationship between the angle at one end must coincide with that at the other end. For instance, if a 45.degree. angle is to be cut at each end of a length of pipe, the angles must have the same orientation with each other relative to the pipe, otherwise, a structure made by welding the lengths of pipe together would not be uniform.
For these reasons, a common means of marking a length of pipe is by a template that fits around the pipe. An example of a template of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 319,794. Other template designs can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,209,459; 1,610,193; 2,533,550 and 4,338,725. These patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention is an apparatus for use in marking a cylindrical pipe that has advantages of economy of construction, ease of use, and accuracy of alignment that is not available with the marking templates as revealed in these previously issued patents.